


let free the nightingale

by esmeraldablazingsky



Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Humor, Lúthien’s unfortunate detour in Nargothrond, and subsequent escape, those meddling kids and their meddling dog
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-13
Updated: 2019-04-13
Packaged: 2020-01-12 22:16:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18455699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/esmeraldablazingsky/pseuds/esmeraldablazingsky
Summary: “We’re not committing treason,” said Finduilas. “We’re just… offering assistance to Lady Lúthien here.”“And we need your help, quite frankly, to steal something back from your family members,” said Lúthien.Lúthien escapes Nargothrond, with a little help from inside.





	let free the nightingale

Skipping a banquet to cry in a dark room alone wasn’t the most mature of coping strategies, but Lúthien Tinúviel felt very much out of options. It wasn’t as if she would have hated to stay in Nargothrond awhile in any other circumstance, but at the moment, all she wanted was to be off. Beren was in danger, for Eru’s sake, and the sons of Fëanor wouldn’t let her leave. 

Lúthien heard the door open, but didn’t look up until she heard someone sit down not two feet away. When she did look up, she met the gaze of the current steward of Nargothrond, who had joined her on the floor. 

“You know,” said Orodreth with a half-amused smile, “I feel like sitting there and crying too, a lot of the time.” 

He held out a handkerchief to Lúthien, who took it and dried her eyes. 

“I’m sorry I haven’t been able to do more,” he said. “They don’t listen to me, and neither do the people of the city. Who knows what they did to make it so.”

“There is endless power in words,” said Lúthien. Orodreth nodded in agreement. 

“We’ll find a way to get you out of here,” he said, “sooner rather than later. You’re not going to get far without having eaten, though.” 

Lúthien considered that for a second. 

“You’re right,” she said. 

“My daughter is across the way,” said Orodreth, pointing at the door. “She saved you some food. I have to attend to things now, but she can keep you company.” He stood, but not before patting Lúthien on the shoulder. 

“Thank you,” said Lúthien. The crown of Nargothrond stood out gold and gleaming against Orodreth’s hair as he looked back at her. 

“Good luck,” he said. 

Lúthien crossed the hall to where Orodreth had said his daughter would be. The door wasn’t locked, and as promised, it opened on a bright-eyed, bright-haired girl. 

“Lady Lúthien,” she said in greeting. “You were dearly missed at dinner, though by some differently than others.”

Lúthien’s discomfort must have shown on her face for a moment or two, because Orodreth’s daughter nodded in agreement and moved over to make room for Lúthien on the couch. 

“I saved you some food,” she said. “Did my father tell you?” 

“He did, but he neglected to mention your name,” said Lúthien. The girl laughed. 

“I suppose that wasn’t the important part. It’s Finduilas, if you wanted to know,” she said. 

“I did,” said Lúthien. She sat down next to Finduilas, feeling a little less ill at ease than she had since she had arrived in Nargothrond. 

Finduilas was chatty and friendly, and her face lit up when Lúthien laughed at her quips. 

“The food is good,” said Lúthien. “Thank you.” 

“I couldn’t let you miss it,” said Finduilas, smiling. “It would be a failure in my duties as princess.”

“Really?” asked Lúthien. She sort of wondered if that was one of the myriad differences in the society of Nargothrond and the one back home in Doriath. 

“Probably not,” admitted Finduilas. “I was joking. You’re the daughter of a king as well, aren’t you?” 

“I am,” said Lúthien. She knew Finduilas saw the way her eyes darted to the side for a moment, recalling how the last time she and her father had interacted, he’d confined her to a treehouse and sent Beren to his presumed doom. 

Orodreth didn’t seem like the type of person to do that, thought Lúthien. 

“Have you ever had a beloved?” she asked instead of saying so. Finduilas turned and tucked her knees up to her chest on the couch, lending the room the kind of air that Lúthien thought would suit a sleepover among friends. 

“I have,” said Finduilas. “In fact, I do. And you?”  
Lúthien nodded in agreement. 

“I have to leave here as quick as I can so I can find him,” she confided in Finduilas, whose blue-grey eyes were full of sympathy. 

“Of course, Curufin and Celegorm aren’t making it easy for you, are they?” she said. 

“You could say that.”

“They sure don’t make it easy for anyone, as far as I have seen,” said Finduilas, prompting a laugh from Lúthien. “Is your beloved lost? In danger?”

“Maybe both,” said Lúthien. 

“I’m sorry,” said Finduilas. 

“I hope you never have to feel the same,” said Lúthien. 

“I hope you don’t have to feel that way much longer,” Finduilas replied. 

They were quiet for a while, sitting in companionable silence, before Finduilas spoke. 

“I can try to find you a way out of here,” she said. 

“Thank you,” said Lúthien. “I could have been gone as soon as I arrived, but they took the cloak I wove with the fiber of dreams.” 

“Then all we’d have to do is steal it back, right?” asked Finduilas. She paused, thinking. 

“Celegorm and Curufin don’t particularly trust me,” she said. “Likely because they’d rather not have anyone object to them badgering my father day in and day out.” A look of barely contained distaste crossed her face before she shrugged and glanced back at Lúthien. 

“I know who they do trust,” said Finduilas. 

“Do tell,” said Lúthien. 

“Celegorm has no better companion than his dog, Huan,” explained Finduilas. “And Curufin has a son, Celebrimbor. So maybe we should ask them for help.” 

“Would you do the honors?” asked Lúthien. “I don’t know what Celebrimbor looks like or where to find either of them. Or how to reason with a hunting hound.” 

“They’re hard to miss,” said Finduilas, “but I’ll spare you the trouble. Wait here, if you will.” 

Lúthien did. 

Finduilas returned with Celebrimbor, who looked slightly out of place in his soot-stained work clothes and ponytail, and Huan, who looked surprisingly comfortable for a very large dog in what amounted to a palace. He greeted Lúthien with a friendly bark and a wag of his tail. 

“Here are our hopeful co-conspirators,” announced Finduilas with a neat curtsy. 

“Conspirators?” said Celebrimbor with more than a trace of dry humor. “Finduilas, you didn’t tell me we were committing treason.” 

Lúthien understood what Finduilas had meant by ‘hard to miss—’ Celebrimbor’s dark hair and keen eyes reminded her of Curufin, and his general demeanor didn’t do much to detract from the resemblance. 

“We’re not committing treason,” said Finduilas. “We’re just… offering assistance to Lady Lúthien here.” 

“And we need your help, quite frankly, to steal something back from your family members,” said Lúthien. 

“Right,” said Celebrimbor, drawing the word out. “I can let you into their rooms, but I don’t know where whatever you’re looking for is hidden.” 

“Well, it might be a danger and a disadvantage to go through every hiding place to try and find Lúthien’s cloak,” said Finduilas, “which is why I asked Huan. What is it made of, may I ask?” 

“My hair,” said Lúthien. She saw Celebrimbor raise one eyebrow in the corner of her field of vision, but he said nothing of it and neither did she. 

“Perfect,” said Finduilas. “Huan, is it within your power to find it?” 

Huan nodded and padded over to Lúthien, who slid off the couch and onto the floor so Huan could sniff at the short, ink-dark ends of her hair. 

“You should stay out of the way,” said Celebrimbor. “You’re pretty distinctive, and it might tip Father and Uncle Celegorm off early if someone sees you around their quarters.”

“We can find your cloak for you,” said Finduilas. Huan barked as if to give assent. Lúthien stood up to bow to all three of them.

“Tomorrow,” said Celebrimbor decisively. “They’ll go hunting.”

“And Huan?” asked Finduilas. Lúthien could see her mind turning, trying to find a way around. 

“If he stays out of the way, Celegorm will be annoyed, but he’ll leave anyway,” said Celebrimbor. “At least I hope I’m right about that.”

“It’s good enough for me,” said Lúthien. Her gratitude deepened as she listened to Celebrimbor and Finduilas debate for a moment among themselves, before coming to an agreement. 

Finduilas turned back to Lúthien and smiled. 

“You’ll have your cloak tomorrow,” she said, “if all goes well.”

“Is there anything I should do?” asked Lúthien. 

“Stay out of sight if you can,” said Celebrimbor. “Maybe your predicament will slip their minds, or something like that. Good night.” And he left the room, Huan trotting after him. 

“Join us for breakfast early tomorrow,” said Finduilas, smiling and touching Lúthien lightly on the shoulder. “It won’t do to skip meals before such a task as yours.” 

“Will do,” said Lúthien. 

“Good night,” said Finduilas. 

 

Lúthien found her way to the breakfast table the following morning. It wasn’t yet crowded, and she had the sudden realization that maybe Finduilas had said _early_ to allow Lúthien to avoid confrontation with Curufin or Celegorm. 

Smart girl, she thought, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth. 

“Good morning,” said Finduilas brightly. 

“Good morning,” echoed Orodreth, stifling a yawn.  
Lúthien sat down and realized she was actually quite hungry. Fortunately, royal table etiquette was something Lúthien was very practiced in, and she attracted no odd looks as she cleared three plates at top speed (except for one amused glance from Finduilas.) 

That was all well by her, because almost as soon as she decided she was finished, some sixth sense caught the flash of Curufin’s dark red sleeve just outside the dining room and Lúthien met Finduilas’ eyes. 

She didn’t have to say anything. Lúthien vanished out the other end of the room within the moment. She sat in the hallway by herself, listening to the clink of cutlery. 

“Where’s Huan?” Celegorm asked a little while later. “I’m sure he knows we’re going out today.”

“I haven’t seen him,” was Curufin’s reply. Orodreth didn’t say anything, but Lúthien could somehow sense his noncommittal shrug. 

“Damn hound,” Lúthien heard Celegorm mutter. “I doubt his faith of late.” 

“I think Huan may have taken issue with your treatment of Lúthien,” said Finduilas conversationally. Lúthien peered into the hall to see Celegorm glaring at Finduilas, who stared back. 

“What?” she asked. “You have other hunting dogs, do you not? Maybe he’ll come back later.” 

“I don’t need your advice,” said Celegorm. He got up, turned on his heel and left, and Lúthien heard his sharp whistle in the distance a few minutes later, followed by the sound of an enthusiastic pack of dogs. 

“Well, that’s out of the way,” said Finduilas when she’d heard both Curufin and Celegorm’s voices recede, following Lúthien into the hall to speak to her. “We’ll go get your cloak now, and you can be off. Wait where we spoke last night, would you?”

Lúthien complied, wondering what they were going to get up to. 

 

Finduilas, Celebrimbor, and Huan were gone for what felt like a long time. When they returned, there was a manic sparkle in Finduilas’ eyes, Celebrimbor was not wearing his belt, and Huan looked like he was laughing. 

“Well?” asked Lúthien. 

“Got it!” said Finduilas triumphantly. 

“And it’s a fine piece of artistry,” agreed Celebrimbor. “I might have to fix the chandelier somehow,” he added as an afterthought. 

“Won’t someone notice it’s broken?” asked Lúthien, more than a little confused about what exactly they had done. She decided after some deliberation not to ask for the sake of deniability. 

“Not my uncle,” said Celebrimbor, shaking his head. “My father probably would, but either way, the damage is done.” 

Finduilas handed Lúthien the folded cloak, which she took. 

“Huan has an idea, I think,” said Celebrimbor. “He’s got that feeling about him today. I’ll just let you two talk, then.” 

“Talk?” asked Lúthien, but Finduilas and Celebrimbor were already leaving. 

Huan talked. 

Lúthien listened. 

 

“Leaving?” asked Finduilas when Lúthien left the room, her cloak around her shoulders and Huan at her side. 

“At dark,” said Lúthien. “Huan is coming with me.”  
Finduilas nodded.

“We’ll miss you,” she said. 

“Not yet,” said Lúthien, smiling. “I’d better stay out of the way until then, lest more obstacles be cast in my path.” 

Ill fate stayed itself, and Lúthien remained under the radar until it was time for her to go, at which point Finduilas enlisted her father’s help to clear Lúthien’s way out of the city. 

Celebrimbor was there with Finduilas and Orodreth at the mouth of the passage out of Nargothrond, not smiling and with his arms crossed over his chest. Despite that, he wasn’t there to stop her, only to brush one hand through Huan’s fur in goodbye and offer Lúthien a short bow. 

“You’ve got a dangerous journey ahead of you,” said Orodreth as Lúthien looked out into the night. “I wish you luck.”

At least _someone’s_ father was willing to give her errand his blessing, thought Lúthien, somewhat amusedly. She was fairly certain Orodreth could read the thought on her face as it crossed her mind, and he gave her another one of his half-smiles before hugging her gently and then releasing her. 

“Farewell,” he said. Finduilas hugged Lúthien too, slightly tighter and with no less affection. 

“May you be successful and safe,” she said. Celebrimbor didn’t hug her, but his eyes burned with a sort of intensity and warmth that made Lúthien feel stronger inside. 

“Don’t die,” he said. “It’ll be difficult, but…” he glanced at Huan, who barked softly at him in reply. 

“I’ll be alright,” said Lúthien. 

“Then fly,” said Orodreth. Lúthien nodded once, turned, and let Huan bear her away.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks have a great day


End file.
